Communications Daily is a service of Warren Communications News.

Brands ‘Hinging’ on E-Commerce Should Shift to ‘Channel-Agnostic’ Strategy: Gartner

Consumers’ “omnichannel buying behavior” will drive 60% of direct-to-consumer brands to move toward “functional, rather than channel-based” organizations by 2025, reported Gartner Thursday. The COVID-19 pandemic “accelerated the blending of physical and digital commerce,” it said. Leading DTC brands in…

Sign up for a free preview to unlock the rest of this article

Communications Daily is required reading for senior executives at top telecom corporations, law firms, lobbying organizations, associations and government agencies (including the FCC). Join them today!

this environment “have proven the efficacy of blending digital and physical channels to support customers’ new preferred methods of shopping and fulfillment, rather than treating web and physical channels as separate entities,” it said. But the omnichannel blend “is not often reflected in marketing organizational structures,” with only 30% of DTC brands reporting they have functional organizational alignment, it said. “Brands hinging their future plans on e-commerce -- and structuring teams accordingly -- should think twice. Brands should take advantage of this time to reorient teams and objectives around a customer-first, channel-agnostic strategy.”